PJ as tv replacement

S

simoncha

Guest
Do many of you use your PJ as a tv replacement? I’m concerned about how long these expensive bulbs will last in everyday use. If you’re lucky, I guess 2000-3000 hrs would last 12 - 18 months with typical daily usage but then you’re looking at £300+ for a replacement. By this time the PJ may well have depreciated to the point where it’s not cost effective to actually replace the bulb. I know the ae700 claims 5000 hrs but with the ever-growing number of reports of VB problems, buying this PJ is beginning to sound like a lottery. The Z3 sounds like a promising alternative but with the bulb only covered for 90 days & Sanyo unwilling to state the life expectancy, I’m reluctant to commit.
 
hey simoncha,

yep my PJ is being used a TV, however not as a total replacement. I have a standard TV in the front room and use the PJ in my bedroom (due to the room being a longer and more PJ friendly) most nights i get in from work late so normally bypass the front room. Im not overly worried about the cost of a bulb, I have a TW10, under£200ish??, for the joy of watching programmes on a 97" widescreen i dont mind paying, besides when you break the cost down over a year it doesnt seem that much?

cheers
 
The only known facts are:-
The Panasonic bulb is 130W rated at 1000 luminems and the Sanyo 135W rated at 800 luminems.

Its all conjecture but either the Panasonic bulb is better at its job or the Sanyo bulb is underused and the Panasonic is being pushed?

The cooling solution is to be considered as well. The Sanyo being the quiter of the two in low lamp mode would suggest the bulb is not being pushed as hard or their cooling solution is better.

I am in the same boat as you in that the projector will be used for TV as well as DVD but want to get a projector that is going to last me approx 3 years so I have factored in geting a bulb a year.

Allthough I am more or less in the Sanyo camp and there isnt a price out for the Sanyo bulb comparing the Ae500 and the Z2 the bulb on the Ae500 was £30 cheaper.

Its gonna be a trade off anyway and even if say Sanyo said their bulb is rated at 2000hrs and 3000 for low lamp mode the bulb could go after 500hrs on either projector so personally I am going for the one without random VB problems of which it is my personal opinion could be something to do with the temperature range the Panasonic projector runs at whereas the Sanyo must have a tighter range to allow it to be calibrated once for all the time it runs (less temp change is good for bulbs as I found out when I cought a running 40W bulb with a wet cloth the other day and it exploded.).

Wish the bulbs we are talking about were about £50 each that would make more sense to me.


Robert.
 
smerkderk said:
I have a TW10, under£200ish??, for the joy of watching programmes on a 97" widescreen i dont mind paying

Do you get much screen door effect at that size?
 
Hopefully one day there will be an ISO standard where you can rely on manufactures claims of bulb life and video lumenance.



Untill then Pigs are fed and ready to fly.
 
Do you think the Z3 lumen output would be sufficient for daytime viewing with some ambient light? I don't want to blackout the room every time I want to watch tv. I'm planning a fairly small screen, probably no more than 70" diagonal; presumably this would help the image brightness?
 
From what I have read up on the answere is no, all the current 1000 or less LCD projectors need some sort of darkened room to enjoy their picture in full but this is not to say it isnt possible, you will loose contrast as the room gets brigher. Only a dem can tell if they are going to be right for you. If you really want to watch with the curtains open then it might be worth checking out the projectors for the presentation market which offer substantially more luminems but at the cost of them mostly being 4:3 with lower contrast ratios but on the plus side they mostly offer a 3 year swap out guarantee (allthough this is not such an advantage when compared with the Z3 which comes with a 3 year warranty albeit rtb)
 
Kahless725 said:
From what I have read up on the answere is no, all the current 1000 or less LCD projectors need some sort of darkened room to enjoy their picture in full but this is not to say it isnt possible, you will loose contrast as the room gets brigher.
That's true, with a low-ish ambient light, eg. a 60w side-lamp, the picture is still pretty watchable, but increased to say a 100w ceiling bulb and you'll start getting a very muddied picture. You'll certainly want to minimise the amount of light falling directly on to the screen, so the light source would ideally be on the same wall as the screen.
 
Hi Simoncha, PJs are a replacement for the cinema, not for the TV.

If Sony's black screen technology pans out, then PJs will be usable during the daytime, and could be a replacement for the TV.

The running costs are high now, but I have no doubt that when the market hits critical mass, we will see third party bulb manufactures emerge. Similar to the clone ink-jet cartridge situation.
 
Initualy I thought I could use PJ as TV, but no. It needs to be dark all the time, PQ is not so great with same TV programs. So, I watch TV on normal TV and I'm using PJ only for cinema.
 
well im hoping to use mine as a tv replacement, it will be part of a bedroom set up and as there is currently no tv in there this will be its secondary use, primarily it will be a computer monitor.
 
You can sacrifice some performance for an overall brighter image. Something like the Mitsubishi XD300 pushes out 2100 ANSI, 2000:1 CR and is Faroudja processed. I use these in pubs and like and they are a little washed out still but that's only with all the lights on! You'll lose black detail/level but that's going anyway with daytime projection.

If you really wanna go for it there are some HC oriented high gain screens available (that don't suffer viewing angle issues). We started getting into these with the Vutec SilverStar and have now sourced from other companies which perform very well even in direct sunlight, however you are looking at £2k+ for just the projection screen (and it's fixed acrylic not something that can be rolled away!).
 
Thanks for your responses guys. I've gone for the Z3 after all; wasn't prepared to compromise on spec for the sake of additional brightness. I'll just darken the room if necessary or maybe just use it for movies. It's a shame, I was hoping to lose that great big silver box in the corner but if the PJ isn't suitable for everyday use then I guess I'll have to keep it a while longer.
 
Buy a small portable for watching Eastenders on and then it will make using the PJ in the evening more of an 'event' if you watched your PJ all day, you'll soon get used to a 90 inch image and be wishing for a stadium for your next house and a 90 foot image !!!!
 
Been using a PJ as my main tv for 2 years now, never been a problem viewing it through the day for me, obviously the picture does lose some contrast but its still perfectly watchable (sky looks crap whatever you watch it on anyway), even with a normal tv you have to close the curtains in bright sunlight. The ae700 does a fantastic job for daytime viewing and I only have to close the curtains on very bright days and almost never in the winter. I just accept the fact that in the day the pictures not at its best but as long as It looks half decent im happy, in my opinion its a much better compromise than the 42" rptv that used to take up half my lounge now I have a lovely fixed screen hanging above the fireplace and a nice big spacious room devoid of any huge silver boxes. I could never go back to a normal tv now im just so used to watching a giant screen all the time.
 

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